Friday 24 February 2012

The "Milky Way" Challenge


This is a very easy and short object lesson which I have used in School assemblies. I have used it all year round, however it would be best used in a September assembly when they are starting a new year, or during anti-bullying week/friendship week.

In my experience, kids of all ages respond really well to the lesson, however when looking for volunteers, I would pick pupils in key stage 2 (age 8+) – as the bamboo cane and fork can be a bit awkward for little ones to handle.

All you need is a kitchen fork. 2 bamboo canes (about 1metre in length) with a kitchen fork sticky taped to each cane, and some fun sized Milky Ways.

Top Tip- put the Milky Way’s in the fridge for about an hour before you do this lesson- otherwise the soft centre sticks to the fork and it is very messy.

Hands up who here likes chocolate?

Who likes eating chocolate?

Who has ever eaten chocolate with a fork?

Today I have a challenge for you. I challenge you to try and eat some of this Milky Way using a fork (show the normal fork.)

(Once you have picked your volunteer) There is a little twist to my challenge today. You see I challenged you to eat the Milky Way with a fork, but I didn’t mean this fork.

I have a special fork for you to use (show bamboo fork) I also have some rules when using this fork. You must keep both hands at the end of the bamboo cane (furthest away from the fork) and you are not allowed to bend your knees. (Hand the volunteer the fork, and allow them to struggle- it’s really funny.)

(After about 1 minute- or when they give up) Do you think the challenge might be easier of you had a friend to help you? (prompt them to say yes and let them choose a friend to come up.)

I will give my other volunteer a bamboo cane fork and put the chocolate on it for them. Can anyone in the room suggest how both of my volunteers can eat the chocolate, without bending their knees and without moving their hands from the end of the cane? (By now it is very obvious what they need to do.)

That’s right they need to feed each other their bit of chocolate. (Allow the volunteers to do this, let them sit down.)

My challenge today was impossible if you were to do it on your own. We needed someone else to help if we wanted to succeed in the challenge.

In the Bible it says in Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 “Two are better than one...if one falls down the other is there to help him up.”

God loves it when we work together and help each other out, and that is why God has given us special friends as a special gift.

God knows that we sometimes get lonely, and we need friends to cheer us up. He also knows that if we are really excited, that friends are the best people to share those times with.

God has also given us another special friend who we can talk to and his name is Jesus. Jesus is always with us, and he loves us very much. He wants to help us, and listen if we need to share things with someone.

So I am going to leave you with another challenge. For the rest of the day/week I want you to try and be a good friend to all your class-mates. You can be a good friend by helping them if they need help, sharing your felt-tips, sit beside them at lunch etc.

End with a prayer asking Jesus to help them with their challenge if school allows.

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